State of Being
by Quetzalcoatls
Summary: The Winchesters have always been something of a jack of all trades when i came to hunting. but that doesn't mean they didn't occasionally team up with specialists. Dean and Sam have known the Fentons for years. when rumors of a ghost that looks worryingly like a certain teen start to appear Dean and Sam are going to get to the bottom of this.
1. Chapter 1

Quetzal - written in answer to a post on tumblr. enjoy.

X X X

They were driving through southern Wisconsin when the words Amity Park' caught Sams attention on the radio. He glanced away from the view out the car window and at the radio, frowning. After a moment he leaned over and turned the volume up. Dean glanced at him before looking ahead again. "What?" he asked. Sam shrugged.

"Something about Amity Park." He answered leaning back in his seat to listen.

"_And here we have more odd happenings out of Amity Park! We here at 99.5 are always up for a good story but the news coming out of this town has just gotten steadily stranger over the last few weeks. Reports of __**ghosts**__ of all things have been cropping up. Many people have been reporting these sightings with as many as dozens collaborating any one incident. And guys listen to this one! One talks about the ghost of a lunch lady attacking a _school cafeteria_, this apparently resulted in all the meat in town forming some kind of meat monster and going on a rampage. Yes you heard that correctly. Never thought I'd be using the phrase 'meat monster' when I took this job! So anyways, the meat monster was apparently defeated by another ghost, this one of a kid – apparently named 'Danny Phantom' who defeated this other ghost with – wait for it, __**a thermos. **__So just…yeah… it's been odd around Amity apparently. Personally I think they need to send somebody from the health department over there and make sure nothing weird has been leaking into the town water supply. Cause whatever it is must be some __**really**__ good stuff. I haven't heard anyone tripping out like that since the 60's. I other news apparently…." _Sam stared at the radio blankly. Dean was snickering.

"Meat monster." he shot Sam a look, eyes almost glinting with suppressed hilarity. "Dude, _meat monster." _Sam sighed, rolling his eyes.

"For a second there I thought he said Danny _Fenton_." He muttered, rolling his shoulders and shooting the radio a dark look. Dean nodded, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, me to. But dude, _Phantom?_ I'm not sure if it gets points for that or looses them." Sam snorted looking back out the window once more as the radio continue to drowned on. They had known the Fentons for years. John had worked with them a few times. They took eccentric to a very…_special, _level. Still they were the ones who first came up with salt shot gun rounds. There was apparently a _fascinating _story behind the incident that lead to that, but Jack just turned beat red anytime someone ask what had actually happened. They had first met Danny when the kid was six. Shortly before that their entire house had gotten temporary transported to another dimension as a result of some experiment. Apparently Danny had wandered off and turned up an hour later claiming that the 'nice blue guy' had played with him and chased off some bullies. The Fentons still weren't completely sure on everything ghost at that point and had called john over to make sure Danny hadn't picked up any hitchhikers. Danny had been fine, but terrified of John from then on. He tended to hide behind Dean whenever they came over to the house.

The kid was practically honorary family.

Sam resolved to check the internet that night when they reached the hotel.

X X X

The web page was one of the sort that made Sam want to run a virus scan the moment he saw it. Far too many flashing .gifs and ten different fonts. It was cringe worthy, no doubt there. But it had what he needed. A few pictures of this 'Danny Phantom'. When the link to all things 'phantom' finally loaded he almost choked on his drink. The colors may have been reversed but _that_ was without any doubt Danny _Fenton. _The white hair almost made him doubt it for a moment, but the longer he looked at it the more sure he became.

"Dean." His brothers head snapped up from the gun he'd been cleaning. His hand going to the loaded one at his side at that tone from Sam.

"Sam? Whats wrong?" He asked warily, eyes flicking around the room in a brief check for threats. Sam shook his head and flipped the computer around so Dean could see the picture. Dean did a double take.

"Fuck! Are you sure that's?" He trailed off looking up from the computer to Sams grim face.

"Call Jack and Maddie." He answered. Dean cursed softly nearly falling over as he almost lunged for the phone. Snagging it off the far bedside table and beginning to dial before he was sitting back up. Sam set the computer aside and Dean handed him the phone. Sam flicked it onto speaker phone and they both waited as it rang.

"_Fenton residence!"_ Jazz's bright voice all but chirped at them. Sam and Dean exchanged a brief look. There was no way Jazz would be that cheerful if her brother was dead.

"Uh, hey Jazz. It Sam Winchester. Can we talk to Jack or Maddie?"

"_Winchester? Oh uh, sure. Just a second."_ They listened as Jazz yelled for one of her parents.

"_Sam?" _ Maddie's voice came across the phone this time_. "It's been so long! How have you been? Any trouble lately?" _she asked brightly.

"Uh, no- no trouble." He heard Dean snort. Right no trouble. Yellow-eyes didn't count as trouble apparently. Sam just shot Dean an annoyed look and continued. "Uh, we were just hearing some odd rumors. Is Danny alright?" he asked.

_"Danny?"_ Maddie sounded rather confused "_Danny's fine, we just had dinner."_ Sam and Dean exchanged mystified looked.

"Oh, alright. Thanks Maddie. You know how it is. I'd rather know that nothings up then worry." Maddie sighed at that.

_"Oh I know, at least we only seem to ever have ghosts to worry about here. None of the real nastys. You should have seen it! Last month we almost got the portal working. Something's still wrong with it though. Everything __**should**__ work. But it just wouldn't work! We decided to shelve the project for a bit and go back over the calculations." _ They could practically hear Maddies shrug.

"It's supposed to access purgatory, right?" Sam asked thoughtfully, he had forgotten about their portal project.

"_Purgatory?"_ Maddie sounded shocked. "_Of course not! I'd have thought you at least would have cracked open a book once and a while Sam! Purgatory is a prison for some kind of terrible monsters. No no, our portal is meant to access Limbo."_

"Oh, ok. Sorry." Maddie laughed.

_"It's alright Sam. Was there anything else?"_

"Well, we're really not that far from Amity right now. maybe we'll drop by tomorrow or something." Sam answered. Dean nodded, eyes narrowed in consideration.

_"Really? Oh that would be lovely! We can have a family dinner! I'll go buy a turkey! We'll have the whole spread." _

"Sounds good Maddie, see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye!" the line went dead as Maddie hung up. Dean all but snatched the phone out of his hand and began dialing again.

"The hell had that kid gotten into!" he growled as the phone began to ring once more.

"_Hello?"_ Danny sounded normal, Sam thought, frowning.

"FENTON WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!" Dean snarled. There was a yelp from the other end as Danny dropped the phone, followed by cursing (1). Sam raised an eye brow.

"Danny, did you actually drop the phone?" Sam asked, amused. There was a protracted silence.

"Um…maybe? Is that you Dean, Sam?" Dannys voice still sounded slightly distant. Like he wasn't holding the phone.

"Yes, and why haven't you picked it back up?"

"Um…technical difficulties?" it sounded more like a question. Dean and Sam both stared at the phone. Bemused.

"Technical difficulties." Dean echoed dryly.

"Oh, hey Dean!" Danny chirped brightly. "Killed anything cool lately?" he asked in a blatant attempt at changing the subject.

"yes. Demons. Stop changing the subject. Why are there pictures of you as a ghost all over the news?" You could have heard a pin drop on the other end of the line.

_"Uh? Me? as a ghost?"_ Dannys voice was a little high. _"Are you talking about Phantom? Yeah uh, he does kinda look like me doesn't he? But he's got like…green eyes! And white hair!"_ Dean was looking none to please Sam noted.

"Danny. What happened?" Sam asked gently. Danny was dead silent for a moment before he cracked.

_"YOU GUYS CAN' TELL MY PARENTS! THEY ALREADY THREATENED TO TAKE ME APPART MOLACULE BY MOLACULE!"_ Danny hissed in a terrified whisper. Shit. Danny was, dead? Still some debate here Sam supposed.

"Danny. You're dead?" Dean asked, quietly. Danny was silent for a long moment.

_"I…I don't know. I got zapped by that stupid portal, and….it's been weird. I've like still got a pulse and stuff and it's not like I left my corpse somewhere but I can like…turn into a ghost?" _Dean and Sam stared at the phone.

"We're coming over tomorrow, we can…try and figure out what's wrong." Sam finally said. Danny squeaked.

_"Guys you can't tell them!" _he whimpered.

"We won't." Dean cut in before sam could say anything. "But Danny, if your actually dead….you're not supposed to be here.." Dean added. Danny was quiet for a long moment.

_"I..I know but…I know alright? But I don't think I'm dead. A few of the ghosts I've talked to don't think I like __**a real ghost**__ either."_

"Yeah well, jury's still out, Danny. We'll have to see. If you've just got weird powers that's one thing. You should see some of the shit psychics can pull. So stop freaking out, ok?" Dean pointed out. Sam shot him a strange look at that, but let it slide for now.

_"I…ok, but – just don't tell them, ok?" _

"We already said we wouldn't Danny. Calm down." Sam cut in.

_"I'm good."_ Danny said with more than a little false bravado. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Alright, see you tomorrow alright?" he asked. Dannys nervous laugh made them both wince.

_"Yeah, uh..tomorrow, sounds great. Bye."_ Danny hung up abruptly at that. Sam and Dean contemplated the phone for several long moments before Dean heaved a sigh.

"What do you think?" he asked, but Sam just shook his head.

"I honestly have no idea…but Dean…why did you say it was alright if he just had powers now when you keep freaking out about mine and the other kids?" Sam asked with an accusing tone in his voice. Dean just gave him a mystified look. Like he couldn't believe Sam had just asked that question.

"Uh…cause weird abilities from ghosts, which are more or less neutral unless they decided to be fucks is a slightly different matter then weird powers from _Demons blood."_

"Oh." Sam winced internally, he supposed that was true. Didn't make the distinction any less annoying though.

X X X

Quetzal – there will be a chapter two, then this is done I think.

(1) *Danny fumbles phone* *Danny catches phone* *hands go intangible* *Danny drops phone on foot*


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two  
X X X  
"Sam! Dean! You're earlier then I'd thought you would be!" Maddie beamed at them happily. Dean and Sam stared for a moment. Had she just come up from the lab? She was still wearing her modified hazmat suit.  
"Uh yeah, I figured we could take Danny to the movies or something since it's so early!" Sam explained. In reality they had finally given up on sleep sometime around midnight and driven the rest of the way through the night. The questionable deadness of Danny had worn on the both of them.  
"DANNY! SAM AND DEAN ARE HERE GET DOWN HERE! Maddie yelled up the stairs. There was a crash upstairs before Danny peaked around the corner.  
"Hey Danny. " Dean called, an easy smile on his face. Danny eyed them both warily.  
"Hi guys." He agreed.  
"We were thinking of going to a movie, want to come?" Sam asked. Danny stared at them for a moment before wilting a bit.  
"Uh, sure…I think there's a few good things at the theater." Danny finally answered a little weakly. He stepped out from behind the wall where he'd been hiding and came down the stairs.  
"Right, uh, bye mom." He waved as he stepped outside, Dean and Sam close on his heels. Danny jumped into the back seat without a word as Dean started the car. Five minutes later they pulled into the motel they had checked into early that morning. Danny felt that the sound the room door made as it closed was just a little too ominous.  
"Right, so explain what actually happened." Dean started – sitting down on the bed with a thump. Danny rubbed the back of his head nervously.  
"Um well. Me Sam and Tucker were poking around the lab when Sam asked about the portal. And she thought it would be cool to get my picture by it with me in my hazmat suit. So we were doing that and I decided to take a look inside. I thought it was fine because it didn't work but…apparently there was a second power switch inside of it. It was dark and I hit it." Danny shrugged looking away uncomfortably. Dean and Sam exchanged a look.  
"And immediately after that?" Sam asked, Danny shrugged.  
"Well apparently I was kinda glowing for a minute but other than that I didn't really notice anything weird until I started randomly phasing through things and turning partly invisible. Then a while later I got attacked by a ghost and transformed for the first time." Sam was looking a bit intrigued, Dean however was frowning.  
"Do normal tricks for ghosts work on you?" he asked. Danny made a face at that.  
"Um, some do, some don't, some depending on what form I'm in. it seems really all over the place." He answered with a shrug.  
"Well let's test a few things then!" Sam cut in. Dean recognized that glint in his little brothers eyes. He rolled his eyes in good natured exasperation.  
"Right, sounds good. What first?"  
"Hm…regular salt line I think." Sam answered after a moment. Danny eyed them both like they had just turned into Demons.  
"Um…you're not going to like, shoot me to see if it works are you?" he asked worriedly. Dean smirked at him.  
"Only if you throw the dresser at my head brat." Sam rolled his eyes at him from where he was pulling one of the canisters of salt out of a duffle bag.  
"Let's start simple." He said, trying to cut off any further barbs before Dean could in fact get that dresser thrown at his head. He moved over to the door, the most open place in the room, and drew out a circle in salt. "Alright, try and walk through that." he nodded to it. Danny shrugged and stepped over the line like it wasn't there.  
"Salt doesn't work in human form, or I wouldn't be able to get into the house. They filled the walls with salt and put pipes filled with it in every doorway and window."  
"In human form?" Dean echoed. "So it works when you're a ghost?" Danny wobbled his hand in a so-so gesture.  
"Kinda. It's like running into a wall of jello. I can get through it if I try hard enough, it's just not usually worth the trouble.  
"Can you show us that then?" Sam asked. Danny huffed, exasperated.  
"Right, going ghost then!" with that the glowing ring appeared around his waist and split apart – shooting up and down. Within moments the slightly glowing ghost from the pictures on the internet was standing before them. Dean was smirking at him with a raised eye brow. "What?" Danny asked suspiciously. "  
"Oh nothing, it's just." Dean smirk widened a bit. "You've got yourself a regular magical girl transformation going there don't you? You've even got the little catch phrase." Danny's jaw dropped open in outrage while Sam hid a snigger behind a cough.  
"Take that back!" he squawked and tried to lunge at Dean only to hit the salt line. He seemed to get stuck for a moment before shooting loose and pouncing on Dean. Dean just laughed and rolled out of the way before he could get a grip and stepped back over the salt line. Danny lunged again shooting through the line with only a brief struggle. Dean just stepped backwards though and right back out again. Leaving Danny to have to fight his way out to get him. Sam let this continue for a few moments before interfering.  
"Right, enough or I'm going to start shooting peoples kneecaps." Sam snapped with an eye roll. Danny ended his chase with a pout. Dean having managed to evade him the entire time.  
"Right, so what next?" Danny asked grinning. At Sam's smirk his enthusiasm waned more than a little bit.  
X X X  
"Well, I'm going to go with Alive." Sam pronounced after a good two hours of experiments. Dean nodded in agreement. For one thing, ghosts didn't bleed the weird combo of red and glowing green ectoplasm that Danny did. The glow was honestly kinda odd by their standards, but Sam theorized the either passing through the portal gave the ghosts in the area some kind of charge, or Limbo itself did. None of the ghosts they dealt with could throw around what looked like plasma bolts for one. Something Dean was really kinda grateful for.  
"You really think so?" Danny asked hopefully. Dean shrugged.  
"Close enough. You might want to watch it with other hunters but your fine with us. If Maddie and Jack loose it when they find out you've got our number. You can either stay with us or we'll talk to them." Sam added. Danny looked nervous now.  
"When they find out? I thought you weren't going to tell them!" he squeaked.  
"And we're not, but they'll figure it out eventually, Danny. Just know we've got your back when that happens alright?" Dean shrugged, not seeming too concerned about the eventuality. Danny hesitated before smiling wryly.  
"You're right, but I'd rather wait till I'm a bit better at dodging before telling them."  
"Probably a good idea." Dean agreed dryly, he'd seen some of the Fentons new guns. They certainly seemed to have decided that ghost hunting was going to be a case of go big or go home.

XXX

Que - and thats that! hope you guys liked it!


End file.
